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Couple Devoted to Children’s Hospital Establish Professorship

Position named in honor of Dr. Elizabeth R. McAnarney, professor and chair emerita

March 12, 2012

Roger and Carolyn Friedlander

Roger and Carolyn Friedlander’s names may be found at locations throughout the University of Rochester, but for the first time their generosity will accompany a professorship: the Dr. Elizabeth R. McAnarney Professorship in Pediatrics Funded by Roger and Carolyn Friedlander. The Friedlanders chose to recognize McAnarney, professor and chair emerita of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), for her lifetime of work benefitting children locally and internationally.

“Roger and Carolyn’s gift is significant because it honors scholarship and faculty excellence,” said University President Joel Seligman. “Lissa McAnarney embodies the very best of academic medicine; she’s a truly respected scientist, teacher, and clinician, who is richly deserving of this honor.”

“As longtime friends of the University and the Medical Center, we are deeply grateful to the Friedlanders for their decades of generosity and for establishing a professorship to honor one of our most esteemed and accomplished faculty members,” said URMC CEO Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D.

Elizabeth R. McAnarney. M.D.

The Friedlanders’ generous commitment will go toward Golisano Children’s Hospital’s $100 million campaign, which will support both a new children’s hospital and major enhancements to pediatric programs. The effort is part of the University of Rochester Medical Center’s $650 million campaign and the overall $1.2 billion goal of The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester.

Roger Friedlander was the chair of the children’s hospital fundraising board in 1993 when McAnarney was named the sixth chair of the Department of Pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief of what is now Golisano Children’s Hospital.

“We are so fascinated and intrigued by what she has done for children all over the world. She was the perfect person to recognize in this way,” Roger said. “This is not just financial involvement; it’s heart to heart.”

Richard E. Kreipe, M.D.

McAnarney knew the Friedlanders before Roger’s participation on the board, through Carolyn’s work as a dedicated pediatric nurse practitioner at Elmwood Pediatric Group. McAnarney was delighted to have Roger lead the board as she took the helm of the children’s hospital.

“He brought a deep intellectual acumen, business acuity and a love for children to the children's hospital board, and Carolyn has always been a great friend of the hospital,” McAnarney said.

Pending approval by the University’s Board of Trustees, the professorship will be held by Richard E. Kreipe, M.D., professor of Pediatrics and a protégé of McAnarney’s. Kreipe is the founding director of the Child and Adolescent Eating Disorder Program at the hospital and is a board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, as well as a Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders. His professional focus for the last 30 years has been on pediatric eating disorders, and he has published numerous research studies, articles, book chapters, position papers and reviews on the topic.

“Dr. Kreipe is not only one of the most knowledgeable eating-disorder specialists in the country, but also one of the country’s most dedicated advocates for children, and Rochester is fortunate to have him,” said Nina F. Schor, M.D., Ph.D., pediatrician-in-chief of Golisano Children’s Hospital and the William H. Eilinger Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “We’re delighted the Friedlanders have given us the opportunity to honor both him and Dr. McAnarney through this professorship.”

Kreipe is a consultant to the American Psychiatric Association regarding diagnostic criteria for eating disorders in young people, and is a past-president of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM). He is the founding medical director of the Western New York Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders, which forms a coordinated, integrated network of care across its full range of services.

“This professorship is a fitting honor for Dr. McAnarney, who has always been responsive to whatever the University needs,” said Mark B. Taubman, M.D., dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. “The choice of Dr. Kreipe as the first faculty member to hold the professorship doubly honors her because he was one of her former fellows.”

Roger’s involvement with and support of the children’s hospital has remained strong in his roles as member of the URMC Board and the University of Rochester Board of Trustees. The Friedlanders have supported programs and projects throughout the University, but felt compelled to endow a professorship in McAnarney’s name.

The professorship complements McAnarney’s extensive list of achievements. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academiesin 2000 and chaired the Interest Group on Maternal and Child Health and Human Development. She was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998. She served as president of the American Pediatric Society (2004-2005), the first woman president of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (1999-2001), and a member of its Executive Board from 1994-2003. She was also president of the Society for Adolescent Medicine and served for three years on its Executive Council.

The first woman to chair the Department of Pediatrics at URMC, McAnarney earned the Albert Kaiser Medal from the Rochester Academy of Medicine (2003), the 18th annual Athena Award from the Women's Council of the Rochester Business Alliance, Inc., and the Crystal Heart Award from the Ronald McDonald House. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Nazareth College.

“It is a singular honor to be acknowledged by one’s University and by cherished friends with the creation of a professorship in one’s name. There is no other acknowledgement in academics that resonates so deeply,” McAnarney said.